Electric circuit breaker with compressed fluid blowout



Patented Dec. 1, 1942 ELECTRIC CIRCUIT BREAKER WITH COMPRESSED FLUID BLOWOUT Bernard Marie Hilaire` Paul Fernier, Lyon, France, assignor to Ateliers de Constructions Electriques de Delle, Paris, France, a corporation of France Application June 1s, 193s, serial 10.214,490 In Germany June 22, 1937 (Cl. ZOO-148) 5 Claims.

This invention relates to electric current breakers with compressed fluid blow out, and more particularly to those in which the compressed iiuid is impelled by a piston, and one of the main objects of the invention is to provide an improved circuit breaker of the latter type.

These circuit breakers comprise a circuit breaker proper, operating mechanism, a cylinder to generate the compressed fiuid and means to store up energy, such as a spring for example, to control the movement of said piston in said.

cylinder and that of the movable contact. Arrangements heretofore adopted have led to the construction of compartments' of large size to contain plants of the type referred to in order to prevent the arc at break from contacting with the mass; furthermore in order to inspect the operating mechanism of such 'circuit breakers, it is necessary to cut off the power. Also when it is desired to increase the power of the circuit breaker itis necessary radically to modify the whole plant.- f

The present invention aims to remedy the aforesaid defects and to that end to provide a plant comprising anelectric circuit breaker with compressed fluid blow out in which said fluid is impelled by a piston; the operating mechanism therefore and means for storing up energy, such as a spring for example, which shall control the movement of said piston and that of the movable contact during the separation of the contacts; the coifer containing said operating mechanism, the compressed fluid cylinder and said spring being aligned in the order named in one and the same structure which is grounded, the contacts said cylinder.

pressed fiuid, air for example. Within said coifer I is contained the driving or operating mecha- Vnism of the circuit breaker. The said operating mechanism of the circuit breaker vmay be of any crank arm I4 having at its free end a crank-pin I5 to which-is pivoted the free end of the piston y rod 1, and one end of a rod I6, the other end or which is provided with a longitudinal slot I1 which receives a stud I8 upon the'lower end of the movable contact operating lever 4. Rotation of said shaft I3 will thus actuate said lever 4 to open and close said contacts 3 and I0. The piston rod 'I is providedl exteriorly of said cylinder with a spring 8 which in accordance with known practice may be tensioned during the closing of the contacts and in such manner that its release shall both actuate the piston and effect the movement of the movable contact of the circuit breaker. Said .coifer I,. cylinder 5 and spring 8 constitute together the structure or frame of the plant.

Upon said coffer I there is' mounted an insulator 2 which supports the movable contact 3, movement of whichis controlled by the arm 4.

Upon the forward part of said cylinder is mounted a second insulators which is hollow, its interior communicating with the interior of Said insulator 9 also carries the fixed contact I0 of the circuit breaker, said fixed kcontactI being mounted within the blast-pipe Il.

` Said blast pipe is substantially of rectilinear and the blast-pipe mounted upon said structure n being so disposed relatively that the arc at break shall always be rigorously maintained in /a straight line parallel to the line of said structure until complete extinction of the arc.

The invention and its aims and objects will be readily understood from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing of one embodiment of, the invention herein given for illustrative purposes, the true scope of the invention being more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The annexed drawing shows partly in elevation and partly in section, one illustrative embodiment of the invention, only so much of the apparatus being shown as is deemed necessary to the understanding of the invention.

Referring to the drawing, there is secured upon one of the lateral walls of a coffer I, a cylinder 5 containing a piston 6 for impelling the comr to the direction of said structure.

shape and its longitudinal axis extends parallel It terminates in a converging portion which surrounds and contains the fixed contact II) of the arc-drawing device. o

Said blast-pipe is provided with an opening or nozzle I2 through which the compressed fluid whichv serves to extinguish the arcescapes, said opening being concentric with the longitudinal axis of said blast-pipe. The fixed contact II) and the movable contact v3 are positioned axially of said blast-pipe.

.By this arrangement, at the moment of separation of said contacts 3 and III, the compressed air arrives in the form of a continuous and uniform jet which completely surrounds or envelops the arc, which latter develops along the longitudinal axis of said blast-pipe. The emciency of the blowing is thus increased by reason of the elimination of all losses of current or compressed iiuid.

In place of the circuit breaker proper herein shown, any one of the circuit breaker arrangements disclosed in my co-pending application Serial Number 214,489, filed June 18, 1938, for Improvement in elected circuit breakers with compressed fluid blow out filed simultaneously with the present application may be substituted, by which the eflicacy of extinction of the arc will be increased to the maximum and which renders possible the construction of pneumatic circuit breakers having a very high rupturing power.

I am aware that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential attributes, and I therefore desire the present embodiment to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. Apparatus comprising an electric circuit breaker with compressed uid blow-out; arcdrawing means comprising relatively movable contacts; operating means relatively to move said contacts to break and to close the circuit; a coiTer containing said operating means; a cylinder; means for conducting compressed fluid from said cylinder to said contacts; a piston to Work Within said cylinder; means for moving said piston to feed compressed fluid from said cylinder to said contacts to blow the arc; a spring to control movement of said piston and relative movement of said contacts, said coffer, said cylinder and said spring being mounted in alinement in the order named, said spring being outside said coffer and said cylinder.

2. Apparatus comprising an electric circuit breaker with compressed fluid blow-out; arcdrawing means comprising relatively movable contacts; operating means relatively to move said contacts to break and to close the circuit; a cofi'er containing said operatingmeans; a cylinder mounted upon said coifer; means for conducting compressed fluid from said cylinder to said contacts; a piston to work within said cylinder; means for moving said piston to feed compressed fluid from said cylinder to said contacts to blow the arc; a spring to control movement of said piston and relative movement of said contacts, during the relative separative movement of said contacts, said spring being outside said coifer and said cylinder, and said spring, said coiler and said cylinder being mounted in alinement.

3. Apparatus comprising an electric circuit breaker with compressed fluid blow-out; arcdrawing means comprising relatively movable contacts; operating means relatively to move said contacts to break and close the circuit; a coffer containing said operating means; a cylinder; means for conducting compressed fluid from said cylinder to said contacts; a piston to work within said cylinder; means for moving said piston to feed compressed fluid from said cylinder to said contacts to blow the arc; a. spring seated upon the head of said cylinder, to control movement of said piston and relative movement of said contacts, during the relative separative movement of said contacts, said spring, said coffer and said cylinder being mounted in alinement, said spring being outside said coller and said cylinder.

4. Apparatus of reduced bulk, comprising an electric circuit breaker including arc-drawing means comprising relatively movable contacts; compressed fluid arc-blowing means; operating means relatively to move said contacts to draw an arc; and a frame supporting said circuit breaker, the construction and operation being such that said arc-drawing means draws the arc parallel to said frame. and toward the interior of the apparatus at the moment said arcblowing means blows the arc and until its extinction.

5. Electric circuit breaker apparatus with compressed fluid blow-out, comprising arcdrawing means; operating means to actuate said arc-drawing means to break and to close the circuit: a support for said apparatus; a cylinder mounted upon said support; means for conducting compressed fluid from said cylinder to said arc-drawing means; a piston to work within said cylinder; means for moving said piston to feed compressed fluid from said cylinder to said arcdrawing means to blow the arc; resilient means to control the movement of said piston and the operation of said arc-drawing means to draw the arc, said support, said cylinder and said spring being mounted in alinement in the order named.

BERNARD MARIE HILAIRE PAUL FERNIER. 

